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Lashkari A. (2026). Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives on the Zich Site: A Seasonal Nomadic Campsite of the Early Islamic Period. Parseh J. Archaeol. Stud.. 10(35), 223-243. doi:10.66224/PJAS.1578.34.19
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-1578-en.html

The archaeological excavation of the Zich site formed part of the salvage archaeology program conducted in the reservoir area of the Kangir Dam, located in the Zarneh district of Iwan County, in the northwestern part of Ilam Province. The results of this investigation, based on the systematic survey of nine 100×100 m grid units, the excavation of eight test trenches measuring between 2×2 m and 3×3 m, and the excavation of four trenches ranging in size from 5×5 m to 10×10 m, ultimately led to the identification of a temporary settlement, or nomadic campsite. The study of the architectural remains and surviving architectural features exposed in the excavation trenches, together with their comparative analysis against contemporary regional examples, indicates that Zich was a single-phase, short-term temporary settlement used by mobile pastoralist groups. The settlement pattern at the site appears to have consisted of tents, each enclosed by one- or two-course dry-stone walls and separated from one another by the same one- or two-row stone alignments. Comparative analysis of the ceramics and other materials recovered from all four excavation trenches dates the occupation of the site to the early Islamic centuries, specifically the 2nd to 3rd centuries AH. Zich appears to have developed because of several favorable locational factors; its suitable topographic setting, proximity to a perennial spring and the Kangir River, nearness to the Guriyeh structure, the presence of dense pastureland, and its position along one of the old tribal routes running parallel to the Kangir River, which connected the Kermanshah region to the warmer areas south of Iwan County. The study of the structures and built remains of present-day nomadic communities constitutes one of the most effective and precise scientific approaches for achieving a better understanding of the architectural organization of ancient mobile pastoralist societies, and it falls within the scope of ethnoarchaeological research. On the basis of the settlement practices of a contemporary tribal community, the present study examines the settlement pattern of a nomadic campsite within its local landscape. The data were collected through field survey and excavation, following the conventional methods of archaeological and ethnoarchaeological research carried out in the region.